As soon as Sabrina opened the door to the old brick building, the scent of stale cigarette smoke and garlic assaulted her. She wrinkled her nose involuntarily and followed the steps down to her new apartment, her bag thumping its way behind her. From somewhere overhead, the steady beat of drums echoed through the stairwell.

Already dreading the place she'd secured sight-unseen, she raised her hand to knock. The green door swung open before she even made a sound, and a petite redhead greeted her with a large smile.

“Sabrina?” The girl grabbed Sabrina's arm and pulled her into the tiny anteroom. “Come on in, we've been waiting for you. I'm Courtney,” she giggled. “But you know that already.”

Courtney practically bounced into the living room, her positive energy filling the room as she dragged Sabrina around the apartment showing her the rooms decorated with travel posters and IKEA furniture, explaining how the kitchen cabinets were divided between the three of them, and generally keeping up a one-sided conversation.

Maybe this had been a mistake. Sabrina hadn't wanted to be picky, since she only needed a place for the three months of her internship in DC. But as nice as she was, if Courtney was like this all the time Sabrina might go nuts.

The other girl poked her head into the third bedroom and hung onto the doorframe as she leaned in. “Jeff? Sabrina's here.” Her red curls bounced as she glanced back with a mischievous grin. “He's kind of a grump, but he won't bite.”

At least he appeared to be quiet. So far.

A shadow filled the doorway and Sabrina looked up into the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. The scowl of annoyance on Jeff's handsome face softened into surprise. He smiled and held out his hand. “Hi.”

As soon as their fingers touched, she knew. Renting this room was going to be the best decision of her life.

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